Becoming myself

It's been just under a year since my last post and my life has completely changed since then. These changes are a huge part of the reason I stopped posting and eventually made my blogs private. My world pretty much came crashing down around me and for a while it was all I could do to make it through the day.
   
Shortly after my last post AJ and I separated. We are now it the process of getting divorced... we're simply waiting to be able to finalize the paperwork (we have to wait 6 months).   
         
Not to worry though, I'm much better now. I've moved on and even found someone new. Data is my goofy, amazing "old man". He makes me smile and laugh constantly. More importantly he knows how important it is for me to be my own person, and he pushes me to not only see that, but strive for it. He wants me to become a better person, a strong, independent, and unique woman, not for him, but for myself.              
 
That's where my blog comes in, this is going to be my way of pushing myself to do just that. This is going to be where I chronicle becoming the woman I want to be, that strong, unique, and independent woman who values herself above all else. I plan to do all the things I've always wanted and needed to do for myself, and write about it here.   
   
This blog is the start of all that, but what else do I have on my list? Let's see:   
      

• Writing regularly (both blogging, personal journal, as well as fiction)
• Photography
• Cook and shop for groceries more often
• Make a budget (and stick to it)
• Buy my own car
• Work towards being debt free
• Increase my credit score
• Start college classes

This is the just the beginning and I'm pretty excited to see where it leads. Here's to becoming myself!

Making Progress

Yesterday I caught the cleaning bug finally! I had a nightmare about my husband and my dirty house (worse then him just seeing it) that totally freaked me out and kinda lit a fire under me. Thanks to that I have the majority of the clutter/trash cleaned up in the kitchen, dinning room, and bar area. I also did dishes. I'm planning to tackle my living room today sometime (after I find out what's up with the Alice in Wonderland plans).

My weekend to do list:

Inventory Panty/Fridge/Freezer (and make a spread sheet)
Make a meal plan (at least dinner M-F)
Get rid of expired coupons in binder
Find/clip new coupons and organize
Take out all trash

It's gonna be a busy weekend, hopefully I can get it all done! I have movie plans tonight (Alice in Wonderland!!!) as I mentioned earlier, as well as lunch/dinner (or dinner/dinner, not sure, one meal each) with a buddy. It'll be a hectic weekend, but hopefully fun!!

Digging up Domesticity

Lately I've come to realize that I'm buried my domesticity deep down, and I've been working to uncover it. Alone this hasn't been working, so I decided to team my love of writing (and blogging) with it ,along with FLYlady, to give me a sense of accountability, as well to document my achievements and growth. I've discovered this works well with my beauty/makeup blog Evolving Beautifully. Now that I've started a blog about it, I love buying and trying new things, and I find myself wearing make up, and paying more attention to things I never did before. Previously I tried to convince myself to be more actively interested in my appearance, and failed miserably, so hopefully the same will work for this blog!

This isn't just about cleaning my house (although it is a big part of it), its also about starting to cook regularly and healthy, couponing and smart shopping. Some of the things I plan to do are clip coupons, compare deals, start meal plans, begin a cleaning schedule, and organizing my home. Of course, this won't all happen at once, I'm going to have to slowly work on doing all of these things.

Something I discovered yesterday in my search for great ideas to help me get up off my bum and get started: I have a brat living inside of me. Thanks to Pam (and Nelly) at The Brat Factor, I've discovered Angelica. Sadly, I won't be participating in their Brat Reform School, because I don't have the cash to put out for the material they're using, but I am receiving the email they send out, and will try to use that everyday!